Wednesday, October 28, 2009

I found out on Monday that I'm headed to Ethiopia. On Saturday. This week. The 31st. Yes. I'm so excited! This trip has been in the works for a while, but the planning has been rather complicated.

My friends Carl (@telemg on twitter) and Angel (Loved Beyond All Measure here on blogger) have been working towards adopting two boys for quite some time. This summer they contacted me about going with them as a photographer/friend when they went to pick up Titus and Silas. Their Ethiopian court date was set for October 15th with our tickets on hold for October 31, but things did not go smoothly. Titus passed. Silas did not.

More court dates were scheduled, but our tickets couldn't be held any longer. Last Saturday I got a tweet from Carl saying they had bought the tickets by faith. (He's crazy.) After much prayer and another court date, they got the full go ahead for both Titus and Silas on Monday.

This is going to be a fast trip! I leave Saturday morning, flying from COS to DEN to IAD where I meet up with Carl and Angel. Then we're off to Rome for a 45 minute layover (how lame!) and on to Addis Abbaba, arriving late Sunday. Monday through Wednesday will be packed with new kids, sights, sounds, smells, ethnicity, foods, cultures, and friends. Thursday I'm back on a plane headed home. I should get back about 5:30 pm on Friday, in time to photograph Gabi's wedding on Saturday afternoon! :-) Yup... first trip to Africa is for 3 days! Only God could squeeze such cool things into a crazy life!

I'm pretty excited about this trip and would love your prayers. I'm going to shoot my heart out, but I want to create the right images. I want to see Africa as God does, not as a photographer looking for starving children. I want to support Carl and Angel and document their trip in an amazing way. Carl is a FABULOUS video producer, so the quality pressure is on! I want to see new aspects of humanity, and thus the God that created it as well. A new culture offers a whole new opportunity to catch a glimpse of the character and nature of God that transcends all culture and civilization.

About Me

I'm a missionary masquerading as a professional photographer who owns his own photography training company. I like to think of myself as a travel photographer and I have a passion for using my camera to expand and strengthen the Kingdom of God. To date I've been to 35 or so countries on five continents.